7 signs your child may have a food intolerance

Recurring ear infections, eczema or other mysterious symptoms could signal a reaction to something your child ate. Read our expert tips on how to tell for sure.

In recent years, pediatrician William Sears, MD, has seen a lot more cases of asthma and eczema in his San Clemente, Calif., office. Dairy and wheat are still the biggest culprits, but experts believe new factors may be contributing to the rise in food sensitivities, including synthetic additives such as partially hydrogenated oils and artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners, as well as genetically modified ingredients.

Often undiagnosed and untreated, food intolerances can damage tissue over time, warns Sears, author of The N.D.D. Book (Little, Brown, 2009), a book that addresses what he calls nutrient deficit disorder. Increasingly, kids are developing what used to be adult-onset diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression, cardiovascular disease, and acid reflux, he says.

If you think your child may be reacting to something in his or her diet, the first step is to look for clues. “A lot of parents already suspect the answer,” says Kelly Dorfman, LND, author of What’s Eating Your Child? (Workman, 2011). Become a “nutrition detective,” she suggests, noting when and how possible symptoms arise. Here’s a guide to assessing the evidence and finding solutions.

1. Spitting up

Possible culprit: Intolerance to casein, a dairy protein. Casein in dairy products—which is different from the casein in human milk—that gets into breast milk or is in formula can irritate an infant’s gut lining, causing gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Later, the symptoms may morph into chronic ear infections or constipation, says Dorfman.

Action plan: Remove dairy from the baby’s and nursing mom’s diet for at least a week. (It takes four to five days for dairy to clear from breast milk.) For formula-fed infants, choose a brand made with predigested casein or whey. To heal baby’s damaged intestinal lining, give 10 billion CFU daily of probiotic bacteria mixed in a bottle or sprinkled on solid food.

2. Chronic diarrhea

Possible culprit: Intolerance to gluten (a protein in wheat and other grains) or lactose (dairy sugar). Diarrhea is the gastrointestinal tract’s way of getting rid of problematic substances. Therefore, the most common symptoms of both gluten and lactose intolerance are diarrhea, gas, and bloating.

Lactose intolerance is usually the root cause because the enzyme that digests lactose (lactase) is easily inactivated when the gut is irritated. When you’re gluten sensitive, digesting gluten irritates the gut, so almost everyone with gluten intolerance also cannot tolerate lactose, Dorfman says. Thankfully, fermented dairy products such as cheese and yogurt have low lactose levels, so consuming them is often safe.

Action plan: Get a blood test to rule out celiac disease; then eliminate gluten for at least a month. Although the diarrhea could resolve within a week, it may take a few weeks to get a clear picture with school-aged children. “The birthday parties, the grandma visit—there’s often something that causes accidental cheating,” Dorfman says. “You need a longer period to see a trend.”

3. Chronic ear infections

Possible culprit: Dairy intolerance and, for some, soy sensitivity. Some research has shown that 90 percent of kids with recurring ear infections or ear fluid have food reactions, a statistic Dorfman says her current patients corroborate. The usual suspect: dairy products. However, about half of people who react to dairy also react to soy, according to Dorfman.

Action plan: Quit dairy and soy for several months. Because children don’t suffer ear infections every week, it can take longer to verify a correlation. Dorfman recommends eliminating soy milk, soy yogurt, and tofu, but adds that ultrasensitive individuals may need to avoid processed foods, most of which contain soy byproducts.

4. Eczema or itchy skin rash

Action plan: Ask an allergist to conduct an IgE radioallergosorbent (RAST) blood test on your child. Because an itchy rash suggests a histamine response, blood tests can be more accurate here than they can be in detecting food sensitivities.

5. Hyperactivity

Possible culprit: Sensitivity to artificial colors, or even sugar. According to Sears, children’s underdeveloped blood-brain barrier makes them more vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of chemical food additives, such as artificial colors and monosodium glutamate (MSG).

A 2007 British study linked six food colors with possible hyperactivity in children. As a result, the European Union now requires most foods containing artificial food dyes to carry a warning label. Thus far, the FDA has not issued a similar ban or required additional product labeling. Also watch sugar intake; some kids are literally hypersensitive to the sweet stuff.

6. Crankiness

Possible culprit: Gluten intolerance. Gluten sensitivity is traditionally associated exclusively with digestive disturbances, but some studies have recently linked it to neurological symptoms, which can range from moodiness and chronic headaches to ADHD and coordination loss.

Action plan: Eliminate gluten for a month to assess a connection between mood and food. Other reasons may account for kids’ agitation; however, if food is the culprit, says Dorfman, children will often want to eat the problem food excessively.

Zinc could be another factor: The mineral normalizes appetite and, through its relationship with growth hormones, helps the body develop. If levels are low enough, a child’s growth will be stunted, perhaps in the fifth percentile or lower for weight and height on the standard growth charts. In this case, a child may rarely be hungry, be a picky eater, or complain that food smells or tastes “funny,” Dorfman says.

Discuss this Article 19

Any of those symptoms can be signs of celiac. Research is now demonstrating that the "classic" signs of celiac (ie. diarrhea and weight loss) are NOT what people are exhibiting anymore. If you suspect a gluten issue, best to test for celiac BEFORE starting a gluten-free diet. If those tests come back negative, you can still start a gluten-free diet to determine if a gluten sensitivity is the issue (not as severe as celiac - an autoimmune reaction). If symptoms disappear with a gluten-free diet then you can make the assumption that a gluten-sensitivity may be a factor. But never wise to start a gluten-free diet before testing for celiac.

I do think the medical community is now much more aware of possibly gluten intolerance and even the extremely wide range of possible symptoms -- though there's still a long way to go. It used to be that doctors focused only on gastrointestinal issues (e.g., diarrhea, cramping) when they considered celiac, and if the person tested negative for celiac, they discounted gluten as a possible problem (this is what happened to my son). Now more and more doctors know that joint pain, infertility, skin rashes, migraines, and many other non-GI symptoms may indicate celiac OR gluten sensitivity. My son does not have celiac but is extremely sensitive to gluten. And the net result is the same: a lifelong avoidance of gluten. But education and advocacy definitely need to continue because widespread confusion still exists.

I have never been tested for celiac, but I am definitely sensitive to gluten. I don't believe a test is mandatory. You can already determine if the food is right for you or your child by eliminating it and watching for changes. A test is an additional cost and gives you an in-the-moment diagnosis, that people often internalize and use to label/limit themselves. If you take those (gluten) and/or other offending food items out of the diet, move to a whole-foods based diet, then the body may heal itself to the point that it can handle occasional small amounts of gluten. So why would you ever need that diagnosis in the first place?

Another thing that should be considered is the pestsides on the food! My daughter only gets a break out of eczema once in a while and has done so since starting solid food. I realized after elimating certain foods it was caused by a number of fruit that have a thin skin esp. grapes. Once I stared feeding her only Organic she doesn't have outbreaks. Some kids I know are also reacting to the cleaning chemicals. Alot of these chemicals are causing the same reactions in the body as the gluten.

Most probably children of small age are always suffering from various types of diseases easily; common disease and behavior like eating disorder; sleeping disorder. Pediatricians are also witnessed a number of demerits found in children which are basically caused by food allergic or food intolerance. Therefore every parent should be more conscious about their children's health and hazards so they must be follow the guidelines of pediatricians.http://urgentcarenow.com/directory/va/arlington

When we become a parent we get highly cautious about our child and their needs. And the most important time at which we become highly careful is while providing them food. We should be very much careful as all foods shall not be well consumed by the child. There are some foods which we could cause food intolerance. Wheat and dairy products are mostly responsible for food intolerance. Food intolerance could be known by few signs like vomiting and stomach ache. The above article is extremely helpful for the parents.Does medifast work

Aside from food intolerances, you should get your child seen by an allergist before just removing random food. Many times they could have a true food allergy which requires an epi-pen, even if they didn't have an anaphylactic reaction. It may happen later to another food. And there may be more than one food involved, so self diagnosing and removing one or two foods won't make a difference and will cause delays in helping your child and possibly more pain and discomfort in your child. I have know people to remove gluten and diary for years only to find out their child was actually highly allergic to sesame. Once gluten and diary were added back into the diet, the child was fine.

Yes finally i got it. I am very serious about my child and her health. Her food has a great importance me. I am searching more times regarding this and consult many doctors. But i can't got any solution.

After reading this article my problem is solved up to some extend. Not only I many parent would be benefited by this article as all are serious about their child.http://babystealsa.blogspot.in

Yes finally I got it. I am very serious about my child and her health. Her food has a great importance me. I am searching more times regarding this and consult many doctors. But I can't get any solution.

After reading this article my problem is solved up to some extent. Not only would I many parent be benefited by this article as all are serious about their child.http://babystealsa.blogspot.in

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